Increased Holiday Jobs Could Mean More Full-Time Work

Many people take seasonal jobs to earn extra money for the holiday season. However, these seasonal gigs can lead to full time work for many.

New research has found that 48 percent of retailers are expected to hire more seasonal workers this year. Eighty percent of hiring managers say that hiring workers for the holiday season is the best way to find full-time workers, the research shows. And twenty-eight percent of respondents say they will hire half or more than half of their seasonal employees onto full-time jobs once the holidays end.

Hiring the right people, however, can pose a real challenge, even if it’s just for a few months’ work. Eighty-five percent of retail managers say they have made mistakes when hiring for the holidays. Fifty-three percent of hiring managers say they made their biggest mistake in not interviewing enough candidates. Nineteen percent of managers say they regret having hired the first person that walked in the store.

"As the American economy improves, retailers anticipate a busier holiday season than last year, and hiring qualified talent to address this expected demand will be just one of many competing priorities for them," said Melissa Mounce, senior director and global operations leader at Aon Hewitt, which conducted the research. "Finding and keeping qualified talent requires having both short- and long-term strategies in place that enable retail managers to easily connect with the right pool of candidates and make more informed hiring decisions based on personality, cultural fit and capability."